BANGALORE, APRIL3: Several political bigwigs including C K Jaffer Sharief and H T Sangliana from the Congress and D B Chandre Gowda, who had joined the BJP, made a beeline on Friday to submit their papers on the penultimate day for filing of nomination for the first of the two-phase polling in the State.Margaret Alva and many others filed papers in the constituencies where elections will be held on April 30.

While some did not want to wait till the last date, others tried to make the best of the auspicious Rama Navami. The day also witnessed a spurt in the number of independent candidates filing their nominations. For instance in Bangalore Central and Kolar more than 10 independents candidates filed their nominations on Friday.

Besides Chandre Gowda, Jaffer Sharief and Sangliana, the pioneer of low cost airlines in India Captain G R Gopinath submitted his paper from the prestigious Bangalore South.Both Chandre Gowda and Jaffer Sharief filed their nominations at around the same time in the Deputy Commissioner’s office, with Gowda snapping at the heels of Sharief in the race to file their nominations.

On filing his nomination, Sangliana, said, “It is a battle between good and bad. Bad denotes corruption while good depicts honesty, justice and integration. I am confident that people will elect me.” Sangliana was accompanied by his wife, C Rothangpull, and legislators from the constituency.